How I Got Here

When I was growing up, all my friends would talk about was getting married and having babies.While I always loved children, I never wanted to have my own.Not biologically, anyway.I felt very weird and I felt like something must be wrong with me because I felt this way.Later on in life, I realized that what I really wanted to do was adopt.I wanted to adopt older children, the ones who had given up on ever finding families.I wanted to show them that it's never too late to find love and acceptance.This revelation came after one of my friends in school told me about how worthless she felt, after years of being in the system and no one ever wanting her.All I could think to do was to hug her and tell her that I wanted her.She was my friend and would always be part of my family.I remember her tears and how she told me about her loneliness.I decided that I would do everything I could to make sure no one else ever felt that way.After realizing what I wanted in a family, I decided that, at some point, I would have a hysterectomy.I planned it for years and made absolutely sure that it was what I wanted.And then, I met a wonderful couple who couldn't have their own biological children.I watched them go through years of fertility treatments, adoption paperwork (that seemed never-ending), and even miscarriages.After all of the heartbreak, they found a woman who was willing to be a surrogate.She gave them the greatest gift of all.When I saw they way they looked at their daughter for the first time, I knew that I wanted to do that.I wanted to give that moment to someone.I never felt like I had a use for my uterus, until then.I realized how selfish I would be to just throw it away when there were people in this world who couldn't carry their own children.I decided that, since I'm not using it, someone else should.It would be a terrible gift to waste.That is what led me to this site.